Polish Trump fans gather to 'Make Poland Great Again'

The crowd, some with signature red hats bearing US President Donald Trump's name, cheered when the man on the stage asked if they were happy that America was becoming great again. But instead of somewhere in the United States, this scene was playing out in an arena in a southern Polish city, complete with a dusting of red or blue "Make Poland Great Again" hats. Hundreds had come for the first Polish edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a US convention that has been around for decades and has become a celebration of Trump.

- Anna Maria Jakubek, Agence France-Presse Karol Nawrocki

The event in Rzeszow is a sharp signal of the hold the US leader's particular brand of conservatism has in Poland, which is days from picking a new president from a field that includes a big Trump fan. That candidate — nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki — was endorsed by a special guest at Tuesday's conference: US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who said: “He needs to be the next president of Poland.”

“We need you to elect the right leader. You will be the leaders that will turn Europe back to conservative values,” the Trump ally told the crowd in Rzeszow.